Search results for

In this game, we describe a piece of historical merchandise. Contestants each guess how much the item cost to buy or build. Whoever comes closest to the historical price wins.

What makes a shopper spend at one store and not others? Paco Underhill, founder and CEO of Envirosell and author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, explains how he sizes up a shop for its selling potential. Also: why spending may not slow even in a slumping economy.

- Daniel talks with political scientist Larry Sabato (of the University of Virginia/Charlottesville) about voter and election fraud. Sabato is the co-author - with Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson - of the book, "Dirty Little Secrets: The Persistence of Corruption in American Politics" (Times Books). The authors charge widespread use of fraudalent absentee ballots and the buying of votes.

President Clinton is using his executive powers to help boost beef prices and ease the rise of gas prices. NPR's Mara Liasson reports on the President's decision to stabilize beef prices by buying more beef and opening conservation acreage for grazing. This decision comes in the wake of his announcement yesterday to sell oil reserves to increase market supplies.. this to combat price hikes in gasoline.

NPR'S Mike Shuster reports that people in Baghdad seem more angry over continued economic sanctions against their country than over the U.S. bombing raids. Markets in the Iraqi capital have lots of goods imported from Jordan, but few Iraqis can pay the high prices to buy them.

NPR's Ted Clark reports on China's very legal power of influence in Washington, D-C through U-S corporations that lobby to protect their investments in China. He also looks at possible reasons for China to go beyond that unofficial lobby, into the illegal sphere of directly trying to buy influence with the U-S government.

NPR's Snigdha Prakash reports on the voting machine business. Punch card machines, so widely-criticized during the recent presidential balloting in Florida, are used by some 30% of U.S. counties, cities and townships. The technology may be outdated and unreliable, but it is much cheaper than buying new, more advanced machines.

NPR's Richard Gonzales reports that California Governor Gray Davis today signs emergency legislation that will allow the state to buy power to keep electricity flowing to residents for the short term. The Clinton administration has also ordered out-of-state natural gas suppliers to continue selling to one of the state's biggest, but nearly bankrupt, utilities.

John Burnett reports that California's energy crisis has not stopped Texas from moving full-speed ahead with utility deregulation. Officials in Texas point out that they have a surplus of electricity and that their plan differs dramatically from California's. For example, it avoids consumer price caps and does not force utilities to buy power in the volatile spot market.

Last April, Arizona implemented a program to clear up the smoggy skyline. The idea, give people tax breaks for buying clean cars. The problem, the state was a bit too generous, and citizens a bit too eager. Now the program's threatening to eat up seven percent of the budget. NPR's Mark Moran reports.